Author
Topic: First sting...One step closer! :-) (Read 2268 times)

Moots

Got invited today by a member of the local bee club to help him work his hives. A great opportunity to learn that I jumped at. In the process of taking a frame from him, I managed to jam up a bee, who promptly responded by stinging me. I'm sure this sounds absurd to the experienced Beeks, but I actually viewed it as a right of passage of sorts...One step closer to being a real Beekeeper. :)

Moots...C'mon....only one sting??? :bee: :bee: :bee: Just bustin' your chops... :-D. It may be your first, but it won't be your last!! It's always good to know how your body will react to stings before jumping into your own hives. Keep a rapport with that beekeper...in hive experience with somebody that has been around is priceless! My advice is to do any and all menial task he may ask, and take your lumps (and stings!)!! Welcome to beekeeping! ps...preparation H really helps! On the sting, I mean... :-D

Welcome to beekeeping Moots!! I went about a month before getting my first sting, or should I say first 12 stings at once!! Darn queenless hives anyhow! I havnt been stung too much since then, but when it happens..........it still sucks!! :-D

I'm just a second year beek, and my first sting was somewhat analogous to yours. I had just lifted off the top cover and inner cover to take a peep at the bees. This was a very gentle Italian hive. There was one bee on top hive edge and since I didn't want to set the top cover down on her, I reached down with a finger and gently shoved her off the edge of the hive. She flew straight up and stung me on the throat. In times like this, one has to remember they are girls.

Welcome to beekeeping Moots. My first stings happened a couple of weeks after buying my first nuc. The nuc had all black comb and one of them had a broken tab. It was just long enough to hang in the hive. I had picked up the brood box to move it and that frame fell out of the bottom and landed next to my right foot. The bees climbed up on my show and onto my sock and let me know that they do not take to kindly to being dropped. Pulled 7 stingers out my ankle. I added 2 nails to make a new tab. The bees did not mind the hammering. Good luck.Jim

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"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."--Mark Twain

Congratulations on your first initiation! Now you just have to wait for the bee(s) in the veil like AllenF said :-D

I'm pretty surprised that so many people have had to open up a hive to get stung. The first time that I remember being stung, I was probably about four years old and a bit careless where I walked on the front lawn (lots of clover there). Needless to say that the unfortunate bee let me know that stepping on her was unacceptable. My mother painted my foot a nice blue colour with a blue bag (laundry blue - the accepted treatment for bee stings then and may still be). After that I learned to be a bit more careful when walking on the grass.

I've had the "bees in the veil" a few times and I'm not sure if I would qualify for AllenF's approval as remaining calm throughout (pretty sure I wouldn't). My first beekeeping sting memory was probably my first experience as an "apprentice beekeeper" when my Grandfather took me along to look at some hives that he was considering buying. A contingent of nice shiny black bees with really bad tempers managed to find their way under my veil to invade my personal space. It is true that bees will find a way in if they really want to. After they pinged off my face a few times to warn me about what was about to happen, I collected a few stings around my eyes and neck and then I decided that it was time to run away ...then there was the time when the Landcruiser rolled backwards and knocked over one of the hives. Great fun and good memories in spite of the pain and itch.

As stated above, my first bees were Italians, and they were so very gentle. I found out that I could move slowly and use a wee bit of smoke and pull frames from the hives for inspection. I did this using a bee hat with an attached veil. One day in the hot summer I was using this procedure and I dropped a frame of bees on top of the open hive. The bees came out in large numbers and I received 12 stings to my arms (short sleeve shirt). That was a good educational day. From then on, I used a bee jacket complete with a hood.

Since then all of my hive have gone through supercedure, and my "mutts" are not the nice Italian's that I started with. A bee jacket and the smoker or mandatory equipment.

If you want to have fun, watch the first bee walking across the inside of your veil. While trying to get her out without crushing her watch second bee come across veil on inside. Accidentally crush first bee in hand in veil. Watch as veil fills with bees and you leave tearing off veil, hat, bee suit shirt jeans and wind up in house with boots and undies. :roll: My brother and sister in law still laugh at that time.

Or

Get fancy dancy new vented bee suit, Paint Big S on front since you just wear cargo shorts underneath it without fear of sting or threat. Wear tennis shoes and no socks, don't bother cinching down the ankles, cause you're only going to be out a few minutes......You will know when they get inside your shorts :shock:.

Get fancy dancy new vented bee suit, Paint Big S on front since you just wear cargo shorts underneath it without fear of sting or threat. Wear tennis shoes and no socks, don't bother cinching down the ankles, cause you're only going to be out a few minutes......You will know when they get inside your shorts

and do that when you have taken your little granddaughter out and want to teach her not to be afraid of the bees. :evil:

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My daughter is 14 and son is 10, so it will be a little while. The kids have seen some of my antics and my 10 yr old loves helping. For some reason the honeybees won't sting him, but watch out for the wasp and bumble bees. They love him, but don't come after me.

Yesterday, I went into my strongest hive, the only hive that over wintered the previous year, to install the Nicot queen rearing system. This is my hottest hive, one be will come out of it and harass me and some times sting me between the eyes. I was 't wearing any protection and lots of bees were hitting my hands but no stings. I was in the deep brood box, it has 3 med supers above this, and pulled a medium frame out with drawn comb below it. The extra comb broke off and fell into the bottom of the hive. Thought for sure I was going to get nailed. There was no reaction. I reached in and pulled it out. Never took a single sting through the whole operation. This evening I have to go back into it and find the queen and put her in the Nicot. Wish me luck. Jim

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"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."--Mark Twain

Moots

Yesterday, I went into my strongest hive, the only hive that over wintered the previous year, to install the Nicot queen rearing system. This is my hottest hive, one be will come out of it and harass me and some times sting me between the eyes. I was 't wearing any protection and lots of bees were hitting my hands but no stings. I was in the deep brood box, it has 3 med supers above this, and pulled a medium frame out with drawn comb below it. The extra comb broke off and fell into the bottom of the hive. Thought for sure I was going to get nailed. There was no reaction. I reached in and pulled it out. Never took a single sting through the whole operation. This evening I have to go back into it and find the queen and put her in the Nicot. Wish me luck. Jim

Jim,I know I'm new at this, but why does "my hottest hive" and "I wasn't wearing any protection" seem like two statements that shouldn't be used together? :)

Moots,My hives are really gentle. I depend upon the bee stings to keep me healthy. The occasional stings help keep my range of motion, especially my left arm. When I started beekeeping, I could not raise my left arm above straight out without helping it up. A lot of the stings that I got the first year were around my watch on my left hand. Within 4 months, after years of having problems, I regained full motion. My second year I had almost no stings, no protection, and I started having problems again. This past year this hive got me back on track. This past year, even with stings between the eyes, I didn't swell up. After 20 minutes, except for the little red dot, you can not tell that I got stung. After not being stung for about 3 months during this past winter, I did swell up and itch a little from the stings that I took removing a swarm from an apartment 3 weeks ago. By night fall there was no sign of the stings. A few stings are good for you.Jim

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"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."--Mark Twain

Question: Is there a significant difference between the Bees from the USA and an African Country? In terms of being aggressive?

I'm asking because i have seen people such as JP (You tube) wear pretty much no protective gear when handling bees on removals.

Thanks

SAbee, A world of difference. Here we learn how to handle our bees by trial and error and survive. And we can do it with little or no protection. African bees require extensive training to be able to open a hive without alarming them and still require full body protection. Even with full protection, one mistake and the beekeepers have to run when a hive explodes. And that is the correct term. Almost the entire hive comes out at you. There was a professor at the last FSBA meeting in Tampa that talked about his experiences with bees in Brazil. Home of the first African bees brought to this part of the world.Jim

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"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper you are misinformed."--Mark Twain

I give credit for my first stink to my mentor. We had met by his bees several times. About the third meeting he told me what to do when I get stung (rub the area with grass to get rid on the pheromone smell) about 5 minutes later I got stung - my fault. I still mumble under my breath when ever I get stung (about once or twice a year) but it all part of beekeeping. -Mike

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.Listen to others but make your own decisions. That way you own the results..Please remember to read labels.

SAbee, A world of difference. Here we learn how to handle our bees by trial and error and survive. And we can do it with little or no protection. African bees require extensive training to be able to open a hive without alarming them and still require full body protection. Even with full protection, one mistake and the beekeepers have to run when a hive explodes. And that is the correct term. Almost the entire hive comes out at you. There was a professor at the last FSBA meeting in Tampa that talked about his experiences with bees in Brazil. Home of the first African bees brought to this part of the world.Jim

Thanks for the info Jim!

I think ill start out with removals till i'm used to being around the Bees. Ill be sure to let the forum know when i receive my first sting like Moots :shock: